Parental and peer influences on alcohol use during the transition out of college.

Abstract

Parental and peer drinking and attitudes have been identified as predictors of drinking during adolescence and the transition to college, but little is known about these influences during the transition out of college. The current study assessed the influence of parents and peers on drinking behavior in a large sample of college drinkers (N = 1,665), using a cross-lagged panel structural equation model (SEM) across 3 time-points: final year of college and annually for the following 2 years. Multigroup models were tested for White compared with Hispanic and Asian American students to determine if parental and peer influences operated similarly for these groups. Results in the full sample indicated that peer selection effects were present both during the initial transition out of college and between 1 year and 2 years postcollege. Although peer socialization effects were not present during the initial transition out of college, there was evidence of peer socialization from 1 year postcollege to 2 years postcollege. During the initial transition out of college direct effects of familial drinking on student drinking were evident, whereas family drinking indirectly impacted student drinking through peer selection from 1 year to 2 years postcollege. Multigroup analyses identified group differences only between 1 and 2 years postcollege. During this time period, peer selection and family effects on peer selection were evident among ethnic minority students but not among White students.